Your Song (Elton John Song)
| Your song | |
|---|---|
| Elton John | |
| publication | October 26, 1970 |
| length | 4:03 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| text | Bernie Taupin |
| music | Elton John |
| album | Elton John |
Your Song is a pop ballad by British singer and composer Elton John ; the lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin . The piece was released in October 1970 as a single from John's second studio album Elton John with Take Me to the Pilot as the B-side.
Emergence
Elton John composed the melody on October 27, 1969 within ten minutes, Bernie Taupin wrote the text for it at Elton John's mother's breakfast table. For this reason, the original lyric was stained with eggs and coffee, and John noted in his diary that he had done nothing that day except to write the song. The song became Elton John's first big hit and is still part of his standard repertoire today.
Text and music
The text tells the story of a couple in whom the lyric self is quite destitute and therefore cannot give big gifts. So it gives the partner the song. The ballad has four stanzas ; the chorus is sung four times. The song is written in 4/4 time . The introduction of the piano, accompanied by an electric bass , is gradually supplemented by other instruments: acoustic guitar , string instruments , drums , flute and harp . A music video was filmed for the song in which Elton John can be seen in a forest crossed by a path in winter with a microphone in his hand.
reception
successes
The single reached number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 at the beginning of 1971 and number 4 in the UK Top 40. In Austria, Your Song reached number 73 for the first time in February 2013 with the chart entry of the cover version of Ellie Goulding in fourth place.
Cover versions
In 2001 the piece was part of the soundtrack of the film Moulin Rouge , sung by Ewan McGregor , directed to the role played by Nicole Kidman . In November 2010 Ellie Goulding published her own version - accompanied only by piano and string orchestra. This version reached number 2 on the UK singles chart in early December 2010.
There are other cover versions by Al Jarreau , John Barrowman , Cilla Black , Boyzone , Bobby Goldsboro , Gitte Hænning , Lena Horne , Dick Hyman , Anita Kerr , Ewan McGregor , New Seekers , Billy Paul , Rod Stewart , Herman van Veen , Andy Williams and David Young . The song was interpreted in German by Karel Gott and Su Kramer , among others ; in French by Michel Delpech .
inspiration
Michelle Young, the ex-girlfriend of Guns N 'Roses guitarist Slash, drove singer Axl Rose to an appearance when Your Song was playing on the car radio . Young told Rose that she wished that someday someone would write a nice song about her. That song was My Michelle , which appeared on the band's 1987 album Appetite for Destruction .
Awards for music sales
Elton John
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Denmark (IFPI)
|
 gold
|
45,000 |
 Italy (FIMI)
|
gold
|
25,000 |
 United States (RIAA)
|
 2 × platinum
|
2,000,000 |
 United Kingdom (BPI)
|
platinum
|
600,000 |
| A total of |
2 × gold 3 × platinum |
2,670,000 |
Ellie Goulding
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Norway (IFPI)
|
platinum
|
10,000 |
|
United States (RIAA)
|
gold
|
500,000 |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
platinum
|
600,000 |
| A total of |
1 × gold 2 × platinum |
1,110,000 |
Main article: Elton John / Music Sales Awards
Web links
sources
- ^ Claude Bernardin, Tom Stanton: Rocket man: Elton John from AZ . Greenwood Publishing, 1996, ISBN 978-0-275-95698-1 , pp. 198 .
- ↑ Elton John in the UK charts (officialcharts.com)
- ↑ austriancharts.at: Charts from February 22, 2013 , accessed on February 21, 2013
- ↑ Spin , Volume 15, No. 7, July 1999, ISSN 0886-3032 , full text in the Google book search